The Ministry of Planning and Finance of Myanmar reportedly decreed recently that microfinance institutions (MFIs) must start charging less for loans immediately. Daw Phyu Yamin Myat, the general secretary of the 107-member Myanmar Microfinance Association, reportedly stated that a minimum of
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MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Incofin CVSO Loans $3m to Rent2Own, Motorbike Seller in Myanmar
Rent2Own, a company that rents and sells motorbikes in Myanmar, recently borrowed USD 3 million from Incofin CVSO, a cooperative fund managed by Belgium-based Incofin Investment Management. In return for a downpayment as small as 10 percent, a driver may rent a motorbike while she pays to buy it over time. Each contract includes asset and life insurance, and the rider may
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) Subsidizes Singtel to Enable Mobile Remittances from Singapore to Myanmar
The UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), a US-based agency of the UN that focuses on financial inclusion and other forms of sustainable development, recently launched a three-year collaboration with Singapore-based Singtel to extend the company’s remittance services to Myanmar. Singtel, which provides
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: DEG, agRIF, Daiwa Enter $9m Equity Agreement to Support Rent2Own, a Transportation Company in Myanmar
Deutsche Investitions – und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG), a subsidiary of German development bank Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW); agRIF, a fund of Belgium’s Incofin Investment Management; and Japan-based asset manager Daiwa Partners recently signed an agreement to make an equity investment totaling USD 9 million
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Yoma Bank Increasing Loan Exposure to BRAC Myanmar by $4.4m for Microfinance Lending to 15k More Borrowers
Yoma Bank of Myanmar recently agreed lend MMK 6.8 billion (USD 4.4 million) to BRAC Myanmar Microfinance Company
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Yoma Bank Lending Easy Microfinance $5m to Reach 28k Additional Borrowers in Myanmar
Yoma Bank of Myanmar recently agreed to lend a total of MMK 8 billion (USD 5 million) to Easy Microfinance of Myanmar to enable the microfinance institution (MFI) to extend its
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Proximity Finance Myanmar Borrows $1.5m in Local Currency from Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation for Rural Microfinance Lending
The Grameen Credit Agricole (GCA) Foundation, whose head office is in Luxembourg, recently informed MicroCapital that it has lent local currency approximately equivalent to USD 1.5 million in favor of Proximity Finance Myanmar for on-lending in rural areas. Proximity Finance is a unit of Proximity Designs, which is a US-registered NGO exclusively serving Myanmar. Proximity Designs offers technical assistance and research services as well as – through Proximity Finance – loans for farming, raising livestock, relocation and
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation Lends $7.1m to Agency for Finance in Kosovo (AFK); Advans Group to Refinance in DRC, Myanmar
The Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation (GCAF), whose head office is in Luxembourg, recently informed MicroCapital that it is disbursing loans to: (1) Agency for Finance in Kosovo (AFK) in the amount of EUR 1.4 million (USD 1.6 million),
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Commercial Bank of Ceylon Launches CBC Myanmar Microfinance Company
The Commercial Bank of Ceylon (CBC), which is based in Sri Lanka, recently announced the debut of a subsidiary called CBC Myanmar Microfinance Company Limited. The newly formed microfinance institution (MFI) will
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Asian Development Bank (ADB) to Guarantee $20m in Local-currency Lending by Malaysia’s Maybank to Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in Myanmar
The Philippines-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) recently agreed to guarantee USD 20 million in local-currency lending by Maybank, a Malaysia-based bank, to microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Myanmar. The deal is part of ADB’s Microfinance Risk Participation and Guarantee Program, which has supported local-currency loans valued at a total of USD 670
MICROFINANCE PAPER ROUND-UP: Graduation Programming in Uganda, Financial Lives of Farmers in DRC, Funding Local-currency Microlending in Myanmar
“The Impact of Variations of Ultra-Poor Graduation Programming in Uganda;” by Richard Sedlmayr, Munshi Sulaiman and Anuj Shah; published by Innovations for Poverty Action; February 2018; 4 pages; available at https://www.poverty-action.org/sites/default/files/publications/VE%20Results%20Brief.pdf
Village Enterprise is a US-based NGO that offers microenterprise services in Africa such as cash transfers, mentorship, financial education and business education with the goal of helping participants achieve financial stability and increased income. This study includes a sample of approximately 6,000 Ugandan households in 138 villages that accessed Village Enterprise programs. The researchers studied a control group and groups engaged in four sets of interventions: (1) unconditional cash transfers equivalent to USD 300; (2) cash transfers coupled with training on how to manage the money; (3) cash transfers with training plus mentoring; and (4) all three of these services plus participation in business savings groups.
The fourth intervention – the full graduation program – had the largest
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MetLife Foundation Donates $5.4m to Accion to Boost Microfinance Customer Capabilities in Eastern Europe, Latin America, Myanmar
MetLife Foundation, the philanthropic unit of US-based insurer MetLife, recently agreed to donate USD 5.4 million to US-based microfinance NGO Accion for an effort called Building Financial Capabilities and Strengthening Institutions through Customer-Centered Innovations. The project includes: (1) partnering with the Microfinance Centre, a Poland-based nonprofit network, to create and share tools for financial service providers to use in identifying and addressing client barriers to “financial well-being;” (2) identifying and partnering with six financial institutions in
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: VisionFund Myanmar, LIFT Partner on Microfinance Loans of $370 to Garment Factory Workers from Rural Areas
The UN-managed Livelihoods and Food Security Trust Fund (LIFT) recently funded the Myanma unit of UK-based VisionFund International to offer a microloan product designed for people who have moved within Myanmar from rural areas to work in urban garment factories. Upon the product launch, 160 workers at the ZES factory borrowed up to MMK 500,000 (USD 370) for purposes such as
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Gret Spins Off Microfinance Activities in Myanmar, Creating Thitsar Ooyin
French NGO Gret recently consolidated its two microfinance institutions in Myanmar under a single entity called Thitsar Ooyin, which can be translated as “garden of loyalty.” Gret Microfinance Programme Manager Guillaume Lepoutre said, “The creation of a dedicated entity…provides access to new financial…resources.”
Thitsar Ooyin offers group and individual loans from eight branches in Chin State and the Dry Zone. It has 80 employees and primarily finances
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Alliance for Microfinance in Myanmar Raises $5m in Equity from BOPA, IFU, Insitor, Asia Impact Investment Fund
The Alliance for Microfinance in Myanmar, a Mandalay-based microfinance institution, recently received equity investments totaling USD 5 million from
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Central Bank of Myanmar Clears the Air by Issuing Mobile Financial Services License for OK Dollar
Myanmar’s Internet Wallet Limited reportedly has received a mobile financial services license from the Central Bank of Myanmar to cover the operations of its subsidiary, OK Dollar,
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BlueOrchard Loans $4m to VisionFund Myanmar to Expand Microfinance
VisionFund Myanmar, a microfinance institution serving rural Myanmar, recently received a two-year loan of USD 4 million from
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Mondato Summit Asia; November 28-29, 2017; Yangon, Myanmar
Event Name: Mondato Summit Asia 2017 – Of Titans & Trailblazers: Emerging Asia’s Digital Finance & Commerce Moment
Event Date: November 28 – November 29, 2017
Event Location: Yangon, Myanmar
Cost: Entry passes cost USD 1,500 until August 31 and USD 1,750 thereafter.
Summary of Event: Attendees will consider ways “incumbents and innovators alike can navigate the highly complex digital finance and commerce (DFC) ecosystem” in South and Southeast Asia. The proceedings will include case studies, debates, demonstrations and roundtable discussions.